Fly fishing reels have been in use for many years. These reels have had devices to impede rotation of the reel in a given direction. Generally, these mechanisms have provided a fixed or variable drag in one direction and little or no resistance in the opposite direction. A wide variety of mechanisms has been used to accomplish the drag force on the fishing reel. These devices in the past have involved gears and pawls. Typical of such designs are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,578,978; 4,168,041; 1,811,073; 2,551,567; 3,136,497; 2,783,001; 3,478,977; 3,574,339; 4,515,325; and 4,527,753. Many of these structures had to be partially disassembled if the direction of the applied drag was to be reversed. Accordingly, some of the prior designs, such as that illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 2,578,978, would apply drag in a single direction through the contact of a leaf spring on a pawl which was secured by a slot straddling a pin. Thus, when the line was being wound onto the spool and the gear illustrated in FIG. 3 turned in the direction of arrow B, a reduced resistance from the pawl 4 was encountered, as compared to rotation in the opposite direction A where the leverage exacted on the pawl 4 by the leaf spring 5 provided a greater resistance to paying out the line. However, this design did not accommodate conversion from left-hand to right-handed operation without disassembly of parts. Accordingly, one of the objectives of the present invention is to provide a drag system that allows for simple conversion from left- to right-handed operation without disassembly of parts. To facilitate such flexibility, a pawl design has been developed which selectively applies more drag in a rotation in a first mode than in a reverse rotation in a second mode. By merely manipulating a pawl without disassembling it, the direction of rotation of the reel, which will encounter the enhanced drag, can be reversed. Accordingly, a simple design is provided to facilitate left- and right-handed operation as one of the objectives of the present invention.
In the past, fly fishing reels have had generally opposed parallel end plates. Such structures are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,489,457; 2,486,559; 3,779,477; 1,612,177; 3,989,204; 2,569,322; and 2,598,846. In these prior designs, the usual construction has involved parallel outer faces on the spool segments, which has resulted in undue flexure and lack of structural rigidity in a construction where lightweight is of significance. Accordingly, it is another object of the present invention to provide a spool whose sidewalls are initially parallel and then taper outwardly away from each other to provide greater structural strength. Additionally, the lightweight nature of the spool is retained but stiffened at the outer periphery for support of the handle without undue flexure of the spool wall.
In prior designs, end caps that had been used in fly fishing reels to secure the assembly of the spool to a shaft have been screwed into the spool hub. This method of fastening the end caps has been inconvenient for the fishermen because when it came time to disassemble the spool from the shaft, small parts could be dropped and lost. Thus, a more convenient method of disassembly of the fly fishing reel was needed to improve on the fastening techniques illustrated in the prior art which involved small parts. Typical of such prior designs are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,883,238; 2,548,317; 3,986,679; 3,490,714; 2,993,660; 2,689,691; 2,523,827; 4,461,435; 3,526,370; and 3,591,107.
It is thus another object of the present invention to supply a snap-on end cap which requires no separate fasteners. Another objective of the present invention is to secure a leaf spring which maintains the relative position of the spool with respect to the supporting shaft with the snap-on end cap.